Originally Posted by RobJapanThanks for the reviews as always, but as a side note at the end could you give us a keyboard/mouse/motherboard that you actually DO recommend when the review is of a poor product.

For example, in this review the last line would be something like.

"With this keyboard being a total stinker, we continue to recommend the (insert keyboard name here)"

It's disappointing that so many peripheral manufacturers seem to think that they can get away with labelling unexceptional or even low quality products as 'gaming gear', adding a gimmicky and not particularly functional new feature and some pretty lighting to justify the premium price.

That said, I do like the striking blue backlight :D
It's just a shame the rest of the keyboard is so unexceptional...

Originally Posted by ledbythereaperBuying a new keyboard tomorrow, do people recommend the Razer Blackwidow?

It's a great mechanical keyboard, but aimed towards gaming. Looks good, has good drivers, macro keys are nice, but if you want a straight-up keyboard I still think the Das Keyboard is probably the best all-around one you can buy.

Originally Posted by fingerbob69"This meant an extra key press every time we took a break from our PC."

Oh! the hardship of it. lol.

Someone is lazy at BT.

I have my eyes set on this keyboard for a while since it combines the best of Valo and Arvo. Had a Valo but so many options and some construction flaws made me get rid of it. So Isku or Arvo for me.
The light for me is ok since I'm a touch typist (shame of you not being), all I have to do is take what you said regarding the quality and responsiveness and test. If I deem it you're wrong about that, I'll keep it, if not, I will come back and stand beside your review and return it for another one.

Keyboards (the look and typing feel) are completely subjective. Some might love mechanical keyboards, others not so much.

Even as one of the converted I'd agree with this. I'm no better at typing after buying a mechanical keyboard. SteelSeries really bugged me with their website because they claim that their mechanical boards will "make you a better typist". It's just different key technologies, they're still in almost exactly the same locations and furthermore the whole "2mm to activate" thing doesn't make that big of a difference in keypress speed.

What certainly is evident is the smooth and crisp stroke and activation of mechanical switches compared to the mushy and vague presses on cheap rubber domes. While this is technically subjective you'll be hard pressed to find people who legitimately prefer rubber domes once they've tried a switch that fits their tastes.

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Originally Posted by ssj12my god it looks like they took Razer's design and added pointless other things and fugilfied it.

Thought this was a Razer product upon seeing the picture, a little surprised to read the title!

Quote:

Originally Posted by ledbythereaperBuying a new keyboard tomorrow, do people recommend the Razer Blackwidow?

Never used it myself but it's often recommended as good way to try out a mechanical board. It's got a lot of the gaming features and stylings of rubber dome boards which many mechanicals lack.

You might also want to consider the Black Widow Stealth, it uses different switches for its keys which you may prefer. The regular BW uses Cherry MX Blues, moderate resistance and a noticable "click" when pressing so you can hear and feel when it's activating. The Stealth uses Browns, slightly less resistance, no click and only a slight "bump" feel when pressing.

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Originally Posted by fingerbob69"This meant an extra key press every time we took a break from our PC."

As a recent convert to mechanicals, I'd no longer want to pay anywhere near that much for that kinda keyboard.

On the black widow front, it's probably a good way to get into mech keyboards since it still has a lot of the looks and features of normal 'gaming keyboards'.
I'm currently using a Ducky 1087 with blues and I love it, already fallen in love with the sound and am looking at picking up another keyboard for my other PC :D (although will probably try other switches, maybe browns)

This is less of a problem for touch-typists, but even we don’t know where the ‘~’ key usually lives, or whether the per cent symbol is above the 4 or the 5 key, so we found ourselves constantly peering over the top of the keyboard to read the symbols.